I mention this because when the subject of Donald Trump’s sanity is broached, his defenders say, in essence, “He can’t be crazy. Look at what he has accomplished in business and in politics.”

Actually, there have been many instances of mental instability among the financially and politically successful, and the result generally has not been good.

We’ve seen this in the past — as a dictator’s or wealthy man’s power increases, often so does his madness. His megalomania throws him into a fury if anyone dares disagree with him, no matter how obvious his error.

The Huffington Post: “[His] widely reported symptoms of mental instability — including grandiosity, impulsivity, hypersensitivity to slights or criticism, and an apparent inability to distinguish between fantasy and reality — lead us to question his fitness for the immense responsibilities of the office.”

The New York Times: “[His] speech and actions demonstrate an inability to tolerate views different from his own, leading to rage reactions.

His words and behavior suggest a profound inability to empathize. Individuals with these traits distort reality to suit their psychological state, attacking facts and those who convey them (journalists, scientists).

“In a powerful leader, these attacks are likely to increase, as his personal myth of greatness appears to be confirmed.

We believe that the grave emotional instability indicated by [his] speech and actions makes him incapable of serving safely as president.”

According to Henry A. Murray, former director of the Harvard Psychological Clinic, the adult Hitler was a “counteractive type,” by which he meant a person primarily motivated by resentment and revence in response to prior narcissistic wounding and profound feelings of inferiority.

Pathological narcissism develops as a compensatory defense against painful wounds and inferiority feelings.

There is no question that Hitler’s personality exuded pathological narcissism or what I have called psychopathic narcissism, and may have met modern diagnostic criteria for narcissistic personality disorder.

Howard Hughes–the billionaire aviator, motion-picture producer and business tycoon–spent most of his life trying to avoid germs. Toward the end of his life, he lay naked in bed in darkened hotel rooms in what he considered a germ-free zone. He wore tissue boxes on his feet to protect them.

And he burned his clothing if someone near him became ill.

Lest you believe that a prosperous businessman or politician cannot be insane, by virtue of their success, check out this web site:

Nicolae Ceausescu was the General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party. He called himself “The Genius Of The Carpathians”.

He demanded that his nearly illiterate wife be made part of the New York Academy of Sciences and the Royal Institute of Chemistry, and all scientists in Romania had to include her name in their research.

He claimed that his son, Nicu, had published several volumes on Nuclear Physics.

Rafael Trujillo was dictator of the Dominican Republic. He thought he was God. He ordered that all churches put up a sign that read, “ God in Heaven, Trujillo on Earth.” He organized a $30 million event called the “Fair of Peace and Fraternity of the Free World”, where he appointed his daughter as Queen. He appointed his 3-Year old son as a colonel. He campaigned for his wife to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, even though she was illiterate. He made a law requiring that all license plates say “Viva Trujillo”, and finally promoted his son (still very young) to General.

Idi Amin Dada was dictator of Uganda. Amin reportedly ate dissidents to his regime, or fed them to his pet crocodiles. Some of his titles were “Conqueror of the British Empire”, “President for Life”, and others. He banned all Asians from Uganda because the daughter of an important Asian family refused to marry him. He also claimed to be the King of Scotland, and apparently wrote love letters to Queen Elizabeth.

Muammar Qaddafi was the dictator of Libya. After three years with the title “Prime Minister” he changed it to “Brother Leader and Guide of the Revolution.”

All his bodyguards are female virgins, and he claims that Libya is run through a direct democracy.

He once claimed that he conquered the
U.S.

He banned all Italians from Libya in revenge for the colonization of Libya during WWII.

He despised Switzerland, and wrote a UN resolution on why Switzerland should be dissolved.

Yahya Jammeh, dictator of The Gambia, has claimed to have mystical powers. The Gambia sponsors Witch Doctors, who have abducted about 1,000 Gambians on charges of witchcraft. His official title: “His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya Abdul-Azziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh Naasiru Deen.” He claime to have discovered the cure to AIDS/HIV. He claimed that The Gambia was formerly the largest country in Africa.

Francisco Macias Nguema was President of Equatorial Guinea. He closed down hospitals in favor of his Witch Doctor Ancestry.

He banned the word “intellectual” and banned fishing.

He changed the national motto to “There is no other God than Macias Nguema.” He killed the head of the national bank and hid all the money of the National Treasury in his house.

On Christmas, 1975, he ordered 150 opponents executed in a football field to the tune of “Those Were The Days.”

Saparmurat Niyazov was the President for Life of Turkmenistan. He is most famous for naming months after himself, his family and his books. He renamed bread after his mother, and built a huge Ice Castle in the middle of Turkmenistan, a desert country. He banned make-up, gold teeth and lip syncing at concerts. He demanded that his book be given equal status as the Quran in Mosques. All employees must memorize the book to keep their jobs, and you could not get a driver’s license unless you memorized his book.

President For Life Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier was dictator of Haiti. When Clement Barbot tried to overthrow Duvalier in a coup, Francois issued a massive search for Barbot. When the police couldn’t find him, Duvalier believed he had turned into a black dog.

He then ordered the death of all black dogs in Haiti. Eventually, when Barbot was caught and executed, Duvalier kept his head for Voodoo.

He made Haitians recite a prayer every day, which went like this: “Our Doc, who art in the National Palace for life, hallowed by Thy name by present and future generations. They will be done in Port-au-Prince as it is in the provinces. Give us this day our new Haiti and forgive not the trespasses of those anti-patriots who daily spit upon our country…“.

He once said that he controlled Lee Harvey Oswald to shoot JFK with voodoo.

Mobutu Sese Seko was the President of Zaire. He made a law saying that TV in Zaire cannot mention anybody but him by name. He banned all leopard print hats from Zaire, except for his own. He commanded that all evening news begin with a scene of him descending from the heavens. He chose many names for himself, including one that translates in English to “the all-powerful warrior who, because of his endurance and will to win, will go from contest to contest leaving fire in his wake.” He jailed anyone who did not have an African name.

Kim Jong-Il, of North Korea took power in 1998. Kim travels with his “Pleasure Squad”, a group of beautiful women. Kim is praised as the “Creator of the Universe.” Kim is praised as having had a supernatural birth.

He claims he invented the hamburger, and that he is the greatest golfer in history. He attempted to rid the capital of North Korea, of short people, because he was angry about his height. Schoolchildren are taught that he never defecates.

He had two South Korean directors kidnapped to kick-start North Korea’s film industry by forcing them to make a remake of Godzilla, only Communist. He claims that North Korea is a paradise, where nobody ever experienced poverty, and where everybody leads a happy life.

What is the commonality among all these dictators? They all had met modern diagnostic criteria for narcissistic personality disorder. They are megalomaniacs.

And what is the first act of the dictator? To destroy the media that oppose him. Here is Donald Trump’s latest tweet:

The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!

Understand? All the “FAKE NEWS” media are not his enemy. All those “FAKE NEWS” media are your enemy.

•Progressives think the purpose of government is to protect the poor and powerless from the rich and powerful. Conservatives think the purpose of government is to protect the rich and powerful from the poor and powerless.

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Senator John McCain: “We need a free press. We must have it. It’s vital.

“If you want to preserve – I’m very serious now – if you want to preserve democracy as we know it, you have to have a free and many times adversarial press. And without it, I am afraid that we would lose so much of our individual liberties over time. That’s how dictators get started,” he continued.

“They get started by suppressing free press. In other words, a consolidation of power. When you look at history, the first thing that dictators do is shut down the press.”